Huge thank you to everyone who's read, and those who have reviewed :D Sorry about the wait, but I was trying to get chapter 4 sorted before posting this one, and well, that didnt work out to well lol Im writing it now though!

Some of this chapter may be distressing for some...

Stella stepped out of the elevator on the second floor. Room 207 was too the left according to the signs.

She took a deep breath as she stood outside the door. Sucking it up, she knocked three times.

"I knew you'd come" Nastasi smiled, standing aside to let her in.

"You did? I didn't"

"You've got a curious nature, just like your mother" he smiled, sitting down at the table just under the window. Stella closes her eyes at the mention of her mother. She was like her?

"I've had a picture of my 'family' in my head for so long. What they were like, how they looked, how they were with me…I'm not sure if I want that fairytale ruined"

"I can understand that" he nods, "You want a drink?"

"No, thank you" she said, taking a seat opposite him.

He just stares at her again. The same trance-like gaze from that afternoon. "Sorry" he says, "But I just can't believe how much you look like your mother. Same curly hair; same beautiful brown/green eyes. You're nose and jawline are your fathers doing though" he chuckled. Stella fights back tears, not altogether successfully. "What is it? You already knew that, didn't you?"

"All I know about my parents was that they died in 'Unfortunate Circumstances' and that they named me Stella Bonasera. I'm part Greek and part Italian"

"That's it?" he shook his head. He had held on to the thought that she would know something about her heritage, her upbringing. He was obviously mistaken. His eyes took on a glassy nature as he recounted a memory.

"I'll never forget when Katrina and Art announced they were going to have a child" he saw her flinch "You didn't even know their names, did you?" Stella shook her head.

"Katrina Petra Nastasi and Arturo Michael Bonasera." He smiled "They married young. They were high school sweethearts. Art was a quarterback, Katrina a science major. The apple didn't fall far from the tree did it?
"They married right out of College and announced you within six months. Katrina and Art had come over to our house and could hardly contain their grins and excitement. They immediately began buying everything in sight: cribs, pacifiers, toys…everything. I don't think they stopped smiling for 9 months straight! Art just cried the day you were born. I've never seen a more proud or happy father in all my years. Do you know what Stella means? Star. You really were their little star.

"They were the perfect parents. You never went hungry and was always provided for. We always joked that you would grow up spoilt, but they didn't care. They would willingly starve, just so long as their little star was fed.

"It was a horrible, horrible night in December when …it happened. It was Christmas day actually. We all celebrated it at our house. My wife and I had put on the full spread. Well, your grandmother had, more than me. We bought hundreds of presents and hid them all under the tree. Katrina was a prodder when it came to presents, so we had to keep her away from them if she wanted to be surprised. It was the best Christmas we ever had, because little Stella was enjoying her first holidays. Obviously, you didn't know what was going on, but you loved the twinkling lights on the tree. You would just stare at them for hours. Your little face would just light up and your eyes twinkle even more. You wasn't too keen on the singing Santa though.

"It was that night it happened. Christmas night 1968. We convinced Katrina and Art to go out, spend some quality time alone. They refused at first, they didn't want to leave you. But we pestered and pestered, and eventually gave in. If only we had let it go, Katrina and Art would still be alive." Anatoli rubbed at his eyes, wiping away the tears that had started to silently drop.

Stella's shaky and emotional voice asked "What happened?"

He took a breath and continued "They said they would go to the local bar, just for 'one drink'. A drunken man behind the wheel of a 1968 Camero, British Green in colour, didn't…it didn't stop. It plowed straight into the side of the kids' truck. Killing them both instantly." He wiped away more tears.

"It killed my wife too. Cora couldn't handle that her only daughter had perished because we told tem to go out. She…she died of a broken heart two weeks later. So then, it was just me and you. You were only 4 months old, you didn't know what was happening.

"The State decided I wasn't fit enough to care for you. I'd had cancer a few years before, so that apparently meant I couldn't take care of you. I fought with every ounce of my being to get you back. Every cent. But the system isn't what it was back then. It was corrupt. Evil. I lost you." He tearfully apologised over and over again. "If it wasn't for me, you'd still have your parents. You wouldn't have had to endure life in an orphanage. I cant apologise enough for that. I don't deserve forgiveness for that" he broke down in fits of tears again.

Stella was crying herself. She leant forward and held Anatoli's hand, tears silently spilling over. "The way I see it, you saved me. I could have just as easily been in that car. If you hadn't have kept me that night, I wouldn't be sat here now. I believe in fate. There was a reason I wasn't in that car. There's a reason, albeit heartbreaking, that my mom and dad were."

She stood up and walked to the dresser, pouring Anatoli a whiskey from the decanter. "Can I ask you a question? How did you find me? Now, I mean, after 37 years?" she asked, handing him the drink and sitting back down.

He took a sip. "The agent that sorted your 'removal from unfit care' sent me a letter. He was trying to redeem his sins before his death, one of which was the treatment to our case, your case. The letter said that you had been put into the care of St. Basil's Orphange, but that was where he lost you. The paperwork back then wasn't treated as highly as it is now, so all of my attempts all those years had been dumbfounded, all because you hadn't been recorded as meticulously as you deserved.

"I hired a Private Investigator to find you. It was a matter of days when he came back to me, saying that you worked in the city as a CSI. Your parents would be so proud. I'm so proud."

The touching moment was cut short by her ringing cell phone. She apologised and moved into the corner to answer it. "Bonasera"

"It's Mac. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, honestly"

"I wanted to check, in case you wanted an escape story. Plus, I'm…outside"

She managed a chuckle walking to the window. She peeled back the curtain to see Mac's car parked outside. "Thank you but I'm fine. You can go home"

"Call me for anything"

"I will" she clicked it off and sat back down opposite Anatoli. "Sorry about that"

"Was that the young man I saw you with this morning?" he asked

"Yeah" she smiled. Her cheeks slightly blushing.

"I've seen that smile before. Whenever Katrina would talk of Arturo"

"Do you-do you have any pictures of them?"

Anatoli smiled and gave a nod, fishing in his pocket for his wallet. "This is the last picture that was taken of us all. A couple of hours before they…went out" He pointed to the clear plastic pouch. It held a worn photograph of four adults and a baby.

She took an educated guess that the man and woman holding the child was her parents. She really did have her mom's hair. And her eyes. In the picture, she was pointing to the camera, as if trying to get baby Stella's attention and focus it forward. On the other side of her was her dad. He was tall and muscled, from his time on the football team probably, and holding Stella on his hip.

A much younger version of Anatoli, her grandfather, and who she surmises is Cora, her grandma, flanked Katrina's side.

Anatoli took back the wallet and slid out the photograph, handing it back to her. "I've got memories, you need the photo"

More tears spilled over as she hugged him. She had a family.

She sat back in the chair, staring intently at the photograph. She broke her eye-line and looked back to Anatoli "Would you like to come to my house tomorrow? I'll cook us a meal or something. I might even invite Mac if you wouldn't mind. He's the most important person in my life"

"I'd be honoured"